Rosemary Kennedy announced her bid for Rutland County state's attorney today with a promise to improve the county prosecutor's office and the disclosure that her boss, incumbent State's Attorney Marc Brierre, fired her Thursday when he learned that she was seeking his job.

Kennedy, the most junior member of the Rutland prosecutor's office, received a standing ovation from Rutland City officials and police officers who attended her campaign announcement inside Rutland City Hall at noon.

A former Chittenden County prosecutor as well, Kennedy said she was invested in Rutland County and in the city where she lives and believed the state's attorney's office needed to do a better job of handling cases involving child abuse and holding participants in the county's drug court system accountable.

She also alluded to the recent aquittal of a woman charged with attempted murder of a city police officer by saying that the prosecutor's office needed to come to court ready to win cases in which law enforcement officers have been assaulted. Brierre handled the unsuccessful prosecution in the recent trial.

After the announcement, Kennedy said in an interview that Brierre told her to clean out her desk when she informed him that she had filed a petition to run for his office. Brierre could not be reached immediately for comment.